Our mission is to give Americans a seat at the table to find common ground and create breakthroughs on their biggest challenges through citizen-led democratic approaches. We advance Citizens' Assemblies and democracy innovations that are proven to move communities forward on the most divisive, stuck issues while deepening the capacity of decision-makers and everyday leaders to take wise action.

Advance the field of inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem building through portfolio development, strategic grant making and investment, knowledge creation, network weaving, and convening. Ecosystems Development - Between 2017-2020, host the yearly ESHIP Summit, a field development convening attracting over 2500 practitioners including community leaders, policy makers, researchers, NGO’s, and entrepreneurs.- Leverage the ESHIP Summit to catalyze early-stage field building by working with the community to identify shared goals for field and practitioner development and then working on those goals through supporting collaborative working groups, ad hoc projects, network weaving across regional and national organizations and identifying strategic investment opportunities for field collaborationsKnowledge Creation & Network Learning- Strategic grant making to advance knowledge creation focused on inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems and the future of work.- Support translation of research insights and catalyze peer learning and knowledge production through grantee convenings and communities of practice. - Co- write and publish knowledge products that support the field of practice practitioners by gathering, synthesizing, and surfacing methods, policies, frameworks, tools, practices, narratives, and metrics. Innovation & Design - Design and management of the two-year Innovator in Residence program focused on incubating seven innovators to develop projects that address systemic barriers within entrepreneurial ecosystems and the economy. General- Serve as a liaison between prospective/current grantees and the Foundation’s Board of Directors through the evaluation of proposals, site visits, financials, and presenting written grant summaries and analysis. Represent the Foundation at funder and cross-sector collaboratives and community meetings. Provide facilitation support for ESHIP team learning and culture building events.

Engagements included: Support for organizations looking to create meaningful learning experiences, collaborations, and breakthroughs around shared challenges and opportunities with their staff, networks, and/or broader communities.Clients included: BMW Foundation, Cirklo, ICAS Network, Impact Hub Mexico City, Innovando La Tradición, League of Intraprenuers, Open Masters, and Promotora Social.

Management of network programs, events, and projects focused on learning, brand development, technology tools and collective strategy for Impact Hub teams in 95 cities worldwide. Global Learning & Capacity Building-Ongoing management of eight global Communities of Practice (CoP) and Peer to Peer (P2P) learning circles.-Creation of P2P learning and support program for 40 Impact Hub CEOs.-Creation of over 150 different pieces of learning content and resources including case studies, practice guides, webinars, lessons learned, community hackathons, global reports, shared templates, brand resources, and key internal communication documents.-Design, product management and launch of internal knowledge management and learning exchange platform for 100 teams. Impact Hub Global Events -Plan, design, and produce complex multi-location events. Manage, hire, and train a global production and facilitation team. Curate unique site locations, cultural attractions and experiences in each new city. Key events: -Global Strategy Gathering 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017: --A global community event focused on the Impact Hub network’s global strategy hosted in a new city each year with an average of 200-300 attendees focused on collaborative governance to help 80-100 city delegations align their collective impact.-Global Practice Gathering & Makers Festival 2014, 2015, 2017: -- A global community event focused on P2P learning and best practice sharing, hosted in a new city each year with an average of 150-200 attendees from 50-70 cities worldwide. -Unlikely Allies 2016: Future of Cities Festival in Seattle, Washington. Included 100 speakers and workshop leaders, 10 learning journeys, 10 films and live performances.

Manage global brand change in 56 cities, including the design of a collective decision making and conflict resolution process, creation web and brand collateral, design launch campaign, and manage brand rollout and compliance process.

Co-direction and curation of annual festival & arts residency program dedicated to a cross-section of multimedia artists, technology creatives and cultural innovators outside of the mainstream. -Strategic partnerships and fundraising-On-site event management and high-tech production for events of 200-1,000 attendees and cultivating a happy team of 50+ volunteers - Direction of the Yes, And…? sustainability program which included zero waste in each venue, a carbon offsetting program, a bike program and educational public programming focused on the intersection of Ecology, Arts, and Technology.

Lead curator of a 3-day festival in Oaxaca, Mexico with 50 workshops, performances and film screenings which highlighted over 50 local and international social innovators.

Support, host, and grow the community of Impact Hub Boulder members. - Establish preliminary community management practices, documentation, and systems for 300 members. - Produce 3-6 small-medium size events per week focused on the intersection of business and social / environmental responsibility.- Produce Impact Hub Boulder’s launch event for 500 guests.- Produce a full-day impact investing conference for 100 investors and entrepreneurs.

Project management support for consulting projects focused on the future of money, community currency projects, and open source transaction tools. - Key project was the launch of new software to over 300 Timebanks in the USA. Other clients included Citibank, Enspiral community, Common Future (previously BALLE), Finance Lab, Capital Institute, etc.

Assistant curator and event consultant to architect Teddy Cruz for PEIII; a 3-day cross-border mobile research conference and community forum engaging pressing economic, urban and environmental conditions across the San Diego–Tijuana border

Lauren was responsible for curating and coordinating The Nature of Things Speaker Series and assisting the Biennial Lead Curator and Assistant Curator in managing all artists and speakers involved in the series. Led by an international group of established and emerging artists, leaders, innovators, and celebrated individuals, The Nature of Things Speaker Series explored the Western Hemisphere's most pressing challenges and exciting innovations. • Designed and produced 21 panels, speaking engagements, and dialogue sessions led by over 60 diverse international artists, sustainability leaders, innovators, and industry experts from the Western Hemisphere.• Coordinated scheduling, contracts, and speaker series marketing efforts. • Attracted approximately 1900 attendees over the month of July• Production Time: 2.5 months• Highlighted the work of over 20 innovative organizations including; Bioneers, ASHOKA, The Unreasonable Institute, Rocky Mountain Institute, Engineers without Borders , The Center for Ecoliteracy, The Health and Happiness Project (BR), The Growhaus, American Institute of Architects, Circle of Care, W1SD0M, The Pachamana Alliance and Awakening the Dreamer, Architecture for Humanity, Cypher 13 Design Studio, Tres Birds, and many others.

At NCS, I assist with sustainability and CSR research, funding, and helping to develop the business case for social sustainability.

Collected and analyzed data from internet and journal publications in order to update and complete grants for Colorado Family Literacy programs. Compiled findings into technical reports. Wrote a literature review to update new findings in the Family Literacy field. Reported research findings before the Director of Corporate and Foundation Relations. Compiled interviews and data on college alumni programs with demographics similar to Metro State. Developed suggestions based on models from similar colleges for new procedures in the Metro State's Alumni department. Reported findings to the Assistant Directors of Alumni Programs.